MY ACCOUNT
Managerless Middlesbrough climbed out of the Championship’s relegation zone by beating Birmingham 1-0 in the first game since Chris Wilder’s departure.
With the search for Wilder’s replacement ongoing following his exit on Monday, striker Chuba Akpom powered in the winning goal in the 23rd minute to earn Boro victory for only the third time this season.
It was a victory that lifted Middlesbrough up to 18th in the Sky Bet Championship and above Birmingham, whose four match unbeaten run came to an end at the Riverside.
Middlesbrough’s players could not have asked for a better reception from the home crowd, with full support shown to interim boss Leo Percovich after he was asked to step up from his first team coaching role. He was assisted by academy staff Craig Liddle, Mark Tinkler and Lee Cattermole.
And after a slow start Middlesbrough’s influence grew once both teams survived potential red cards.
The first of those arrived when Birmingham’s Juninho Bacuna left Akpom needing treatment from a mistimed lunge. The second saw Paddy McNair clearly trip Scott Hogan as he threatened to go through on goal. Both offences received cautions.
Once Bacuna had curled the resulting free-kick inches wide for Birmingham, Middlesbrough turned up the heat a little and got their rewards midway through the opening half.
Ryan Giles’ corner hit the back of Birmingham defender Auston Trusty at the back post and the loose ball fell invitingly for Akpom to fire in his third of the season.
There were also efforts from Matt Crooks and McNair to worry the Blues, and yet Birmingham would have been level had Middlesbrough goalkeeper Zack Steffen not stopped Hogan’s effort after Anfernee Dijksteel’s poor back pass.
Birmingham started brightly after the restart too, with Tahith Chong charging deep into the Middlesbrough half before beating his marker and firing into the arms of Steffen.
Neither side really found any rhythm in the early second-half exchanges and the closest the home side came to adding to their lead was when league debutant Hayden Hackney curled over from distance.
Wilder had shown a reluctance to play academy graduates in his starting line-up but Hackney, from Redcar on Teesside, was one of the four changes Percovich made to the side that lost at Coventry.
Hogan lifted a side-footed first time effort over as Birmingham continued to look to level, but Middlesbrough did enough to thwart the majority of advances.
When Hackney did concede a free-kick for a foul on Chong on the hour, Emmanuel Longelo’s curling effort from 25 yards looked like it was flying into the top corner when Steffen turned it over.
Birmingham kept probing, particularly through the lively Chong, while Middlesbrough made changes in a bid to alter the flow of the game.
Soon after those Rodrigo Muniz headed against the crossbar for Middlesbrough, while substitute Marcus Forss had the rebound in the net but from an offside position.
Middlesbrough never looked like conceding after that.
